Who am I??

I'm a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a sister in law, emergency services servant, a piano player, Bama fan(Roll Tide), a Trisomy 18 mom, a tight wad, a "Type A" controller, a researcher, an internet junkie, a reader, an awesome grilled cheese maker, a celebrity gossip junkie, a horrible driver. I am all those things and more. Most importantly I am God's child.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11

Disclaimer

The simple fact that a link appears on my page does not mean that I agree with every single thing on that site. Please don't send me "hate mail" if you find something you don't agree with when you surf off this site. (Thanks Dad!)

Friday, May 18, 2012

We leave for Disney World tomorrow. Excited to be there. Not so excited to take a 10/12ish hour road trip starting at 4am.

But before we head to the happiest place on earth I have a little state test to take this evening. Boo!! It must be done(and passed) to practice as a paramedic but I am really dreading it. A little stressed if you will. But by 8pm EST it will be all over.

And on the same note. I got accepted in to the EMS bachelor's program at WCU yesterday. I am over the moon about this. I really didn't think I would get in since preference is given to paramedics with experience and at this point I only have experience at a lower level certification. But the Lord graciously smiled on me and I was accepted. Now, where are my financial aid forms?

Clayton is head over heels in love with his new Legos that his Tram and Bobba got for him last week while he was on vacation with them. He and his Daddy have spent every evening this week at the table building fun things. And making Mom wince every time I see a Lego. I'm still not ready for the Lego adventure but alas I don't think I have a choice.

I miss my Grandaddy today. He went to Heaven in December and it sometimes it just strikes me how much I'm natured like him and how loved I was by him. And today I miss him. And when I think of Grandaddy, I always think of Johanna and miss her too. Soon and very soon these things won't matter anymore.

Have ya'll watched Duck Dynasty? If not, you must. I just love it. And I'm not really a TV person.

OK that's all. Hopefully I'll report from the DW next week. Now it's back to cardiology and ambulances.

So, I had worked 24 the day before and Chad had very kindly asked Clayton to pick up all of his toys before bedtime. Well..........I came home to clean house and sweep the floor. I felt the broom hit something under the couch(not entirely uncommon because I don't always sweep under the couch...gasp!). I moved the couch and found 3/4 of Clayton's Lincoln Log collection. In all of his 4 year old wisdom, he told me they were there so they would "be safe".

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Studying for my state certification exam may cause me to lose my mind. All the stuff I've learned but may or may not remember is making me prematurely gray headed.

Clayton is at the beach this week with my parents which means my house is way too quiet. But it has also stayed pretty clean. I would rather have messy and loud.

I started a walk/run app this week. I'm slow and it's hard. But I would really like to stick with it. I need to do this.

We have new floor for the entire house. Hopefully it will get put down eventually. I'm crossing my fingers that it will go down before Christmas.

There are two full time openings at the EMS agency I work for. I have applied for both(different shifts). I hope that I get one of them. If not, then that's OK too. A little more practice under a superior wouldn't be a bad thing either.

Lots of ladies banquets this weekend to attend. I'm excited.

I have applied to Western Carolina University to get my BS in EMS. Hopefully I will hear if I get in sometime this month.

After looking at 5 and 7, I kinda feel like I'm in a big waiting room. Odd!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

If you live anywhere near NC then you probably know that there was this tiny little vote on an amendment yesterday. It affectionately became called "Amendment One". This amendment outline marriage as the only legal domestic union that would be recognized by the state of NC. For months there have been debates and propaganda on both sides of the argument. And as the weeks led up to the big vote the propaganda became louder and more hate filled on both sides.

I am very pro-marriage as it exists between one man and one woman at one time(and hopefully for one lifetime). I voted for the amendment and was very excited that it passed. I knew from day one how I felt about this amendment and how I would vote for it. And I am so thankful that I was allowed to participate in the voting process.

Here's the point of my vent today.

The amendment passed. Roughly 61% of the voters that voted(and if you didn't, shame on you, you have no right to an argument) voted that marriage should be defined as above. That means around 39% disagreed and strongly felt that same-sex couples and other domestic unions should be recognized by the state as legal. These statistics mean that more than half of NC voters felt that this amendment should pass. That my friends is a democracy(such as we have it now). If we are supposedly governed by the people and their representatives, then the people have NC have spoken their opinion.

This brings me to my point. I am an educated person. I research politicians, amendments, and whatever I may be voting on prior to stepping in the voting booth. I am allowed as a free citizen of the USA and of NC to vote my opinion and belief on any matter. Because I am not a felon or illegal citizen this is a right that I an very privileged to keep. Why then am I now being labeled by some(not all, but some) as a bigot, backward, and unlearned? Why is my opinion less important than another persons? Why is my belief system skewed?

Yes, my belief system is very strongly grounded in my faith, my personal beliefs that have been handed down to me by my parents, and my particular life experiences. And regardless of what people would say, most everyone develops their beliefs from their parents in one form or another. Why now is my belief system and the things that I hold very important to me being called in to question? That is why we as a democratic people were allowed to vote on such an important people. We vote what we deeply believe in. We vote for the things that we hold very dear to our hearts.

My point is(rambling though it may be, I worked 24 yesterday don't judge), I and others that believe the way that I do, voted how we believed is best for our families, just as people that voted against the amendment voted how they felt best. The democratic union spoke yesterday. As it has previously in 30 other states. NC was the very last southern state to place such an amendment in to law. Now that the decision has been made we should not be belittling others on the opposite side of our opinion. We should not be gloating that our opinion won the majority. We should be thankful, but we are commanded to be thankful in(not for, in) all things. Even if the amendment had not passed we should still be thankful for the privilege to vote our beliefs.

Please stop this backlash, name calling, and redundant arguing that will accomplish nothing. Belittling those that believe differently that you do achieves nothing but hatred. Is that the point? I am not closed minded, redneck, ignorant, or "backwood" for voting my opinion. I am intelligent, imaginative, and thoughtful for getting to the polls.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

I promise I still exist. It's the final push up to graduation and I'm feeling the strain. I have one of the larger hurdles behind me and two more to go. Soon though I will be finished. However, today I think I will just be Mommy. Something I'm thankful that I will never finish.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Something of an interesting day today. As you may or may not know, Chad is a Type 1 Diabetic. Which basically means lots of finger pricks, an insulin pump(hallelujah), and sometimes interesting low blood sugar levels. These don't happen a lot but today was our lucky day(or not lucky or whatever).

Today was a work day(ambulance day....yay!!). Chad rarely works in the county that I work in. But today he did. And he was even in my district. Ambulances do their best not to leave their district so that response times are kept low. Low response times are a good thing. That means we get to the emergency/scene as quickly as possible. Anywho, I get a call close to lunch time from Chad's coworker telling me that Chad just isn't acting right and won't talk to anyone. That's most definitely a low blood sugar episode for the hubs. Pretty classic for him anyway. Fortunately(isn't God amazing) my partner and I were not on a call and Chad was working about 5 minutes away from the base. We hauled our truck right to him and fixed him right up!

It's not a big deal to me most of the time because I have been doing this for Chad for quite a few years. He has no control over things like this. It's just the way it is. And it's part of my job. It is almost guaranteed for a county, even one that's small like ours, to get at least one diabetic call every shift. But today I was reminded of the sovereignty of God.

I don't really subscribe to the idea of luck. I believe God has a plan and ordains His plan for our lives. I believe He has absolutely everything arranged and all things work for His glory. Today was just another simple reminder for me that God is sovereign. And I am so thankful that He is.

Friday, March 9, 2012

So.............I never ever never ever link up with anything. There are lots of reasons but the main one is the lack of time that I seem to always have. And right now is no exception. I digress. When I saw the link up atKelly's Kornertoday I knew it was right for me. She is linking ministry wives today.

To say that I have lived my life in the ministry for Christ is the understatement of the year. My husband is currently the associate pastor at a Baptist church in the next county over. My father pastors, my brother pastors, and my father in law pastors. Clayton doesn't stand a chance. It's the family business and it's all I have ever really known. And it's a good thing.

Being a ministry family is amazing and amazingly difficult. We definitely live our lives differently than "normal" families. But we are still just normal people that have the same experiences as the families in our churches. Personally I wouldn't change how we live our lives. Yes we are busy. But some of that is by our own design. And yes we will always be busy. Dinner is not always(or rarely) at 6pm around the table with all of us there. But that's the life we have.

Chad and I joke with each other and say that we have the life we never knew we wanted. We got married very young. I was 19 and he was 20. It's hard to believe that was 10 years ago. We have an awesome 4 year old red headed little boy, and our daughter Johanna has been waiting for us for 2 1/2 years in Heaven. She's already where we all not so secretly long to be. Chad also works a full time job to help support us after I was part of a medical lay off 2 years ago. I'm currently 7 weeks(not that I'm counting) away from finishing my degree in Emergency Medical Sciences. I work part time for our county's EMS system. I love EMS and I'm so excited to be finished.

We love our life and its ridiculously busy schedule. We love our family even though we don't get to spend near as much time with them as we would like. We love our God because He first loved us and chose us before the foundation of the world.

Ministry life is an amazing ride that I wouldn't change for anything.

Sorry it's fuzzy. We were cold and excited to be watching our beloved Crimson Tide.